Category: Microsoft Outlook

Microsoft has released an update to Outlook for Android that Office 365 users who use Groups will find helpful.  You can now access groups from within the client, allowing you to see and send messages to teams within your organization.  To this point, Groups has been something that has only been available through the Outlook client on PC and Mac.  For those that may not know what Groups is exactly, think of it as a dramatically improved distribution list.  Now you can send emails to the group and everyone will get those emails (like a distribution list) but it also allows for much easier document sharing and collaboration over sending endless versions out to people.  Files can be shared from OneDrive which makes version tracking much easier and it eliminates the risk of multiple version of a file running around within your organization.

Groups was introduced for Windows users last year and to Mac users in the Outlook client back in March.  With it now available for Android, it will make it easier for those who use the feature to keep up with things (and keep others informed) while on-the-go.

Most certainly file this one under finally!  Microsoft has announced that support for Google Calendar and Google Contacts is finally coming to Outlook for Mac.  For those on Windows 10 using Outlook for Windows, this is no big deal.  The support for integrating your Google Calendar into Outlook has been there pretty much from the beginning.  Not the case for Mac users.  While adding your Gmail account to Outlook for Mac was no biggie, your calendar and contacts from Google would not sync.  It just wasn’t an option.

In an announcement to the Office Insiders, Microsoft has started rolling out the support for Google Calendar and Contacts to those in the Insider Fast Ring.  The feature is certainly still in the test phase, so much so that Microsoft isn’t rolling it out to everyone who is an Insider.  Those who don’t get it immediately will be prompted at some point in the future to add their Google account so they can start testing.

One of the biggest benefits to Android as a platform is its flexibility.  Google, much to their credit, has made it very easy for developers – including companies that compete with them – to produce apps for Android to sell or give away.  Microsoft, much to their credit too, has taken advantage of this openness.  The Redmond, Washington company as certainly competed with Google and more directly Android but equally, have produced great apps that allow you to stay within the Microsoft ecosystem without too much pain.  In fact, really no pain.

If you are new to Android but your personal and/or work life is surrounded by Microsoft applications, take heart.  You will find that Android is more than capable of giving you a rich, powerful Microsoft experience without the sacrifices in other areas.  I’m of course referring to Windows Phone.  Clearly the Microsoft experience on Windows Phone was outstanding but even the apps on that now all-but-dead platform lacked when you compared them to those for Android or even iOS.

In this How To I’m going to highlight some of the key apps from Microsoft that will make your Android phone (and in most cases tablets) a solid performing and excellent user experience for those who have their digital work or personal lives in Office 365, OneDrive and other apps.  While those apps are expected, it is the other apps that Microsoft offers that may be a surprise to you.

Microsoft has rolled out an update to the Outlook for Android app that brings much improved calendar and task integration from other services.  If you are an Outlook for Android user, after you get this update, you will be able to add tasks and calendar events from Wunderlist, Facebook and Evernote to the app. The idea, of course, is that Outlook becomes your single place you go to manage any tasks or calendar events.  To this point you could only have events from your Exchange account, Hotmail or Gmail calendar show up in the calendar section of the app.  Tasks where strictly limited to whatever you did locally or Exchange.